


Let Me Drown In Your Laughter

by Miffy



Series: Blue Skies Are Coming [6]
Category: Hunger Games Series - All Media Types, Hunger Games Trilogy - Suzanne Collins
Genre: Alternate Universe - Hollywood, Childhood Friends, F/M, Soulmate-Identifying Marks
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-04
Updated: 2016-11-04
Packaged: 2018-08-29 02:11:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,049
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8471578
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Miffy/pseuds/Miffy
Summary: He could see the wheels turning in Finnick’s green eyes, figuring it out, when Prim left. ‘Was she talking about—‘ his voice dropped to a whisper when he said her name, ‘Katniss Everdeen?’Peeta’s gaze dropped to his keyboard. ‘What makes you say that?’Finnick snorted. ‘Please, dude. Your crush on your childhood best friend isn’t exactly subtle and when Prim asked if she could pass your number to someone named Kat, the little swagger you do have, flew out of the window’  --Peeta kind of figured (hoped) that Katniss was his soulmate when he got his soulmark, but he felt weird calling her about it since they hadn’t talked in several years and she was now a famous singer.





	

**Author's Note:**

> This is just a fic with some of my fave tropes combined into one story - childhood friends + Hollywood AU + soulmarks :3
> 
> Hope you like :) Sorry for any mistakes

Peeta met Katniss when they were in kindergarten. He doesn’t remember a lot about that first day, but what does stand out is how she was dressed. Mrs. Jasmine Everdeen had clothed her daughter in a sweet, red dress and had braided her hair in two braids. Nothing much changed from that day forward – they were best friends throughout all those years; Katniss spend every waking moment singing and learning to play different instruments (he had learned about her love for music the day they met, when she proudly sang the Valley song in front of the whole class), while Peeta himself filled sketchbook after sketchbook with drawings of everything his eyes landed on (Katniss found out about his love for drawing the day he first heard her sing, when the two of them got assigned to Ms. Trinket’s drawing corner).

Eleven years were spend sharing secrets, fighting and making amends, watching the stars, Peeta listening to Katniss perform, going to their friends’ birthday parties, Katniss admiring Peeta’s creations, going running together, making homework, and what not. Always together.

It seemed that the only significant change in their years of friendship was how Katniss dressed – favouring jeans over dresses and braiding her long, raven coloured hair in one braid instead of two. And of course, Peeta’s feelings toward his best friend. Before his 15th birthday he realised they weren’t as platonic as they once were.

Many of their free moments were spend at the lake that bordered their town. In the summers they used the body of water to swim, and in the winter when it froze over, they used it for some ice-skating. On warm summer nights they sat down on its shore, in between thousands of dandelions, while Katniss and her guitar played every song that came to mind, and Peeta improved his artistic skills.

In the winter they sat around a bonfire with their friends on said shore, drinking, laughing, and having a great time while being accompanied by Katniss’s sultry voice and guitar sounds. Thresh told them the best scary stories, Gale recited poems to impress Madge, and Delly always encouraged lively debates.

Peeta and Katniss spend the best moments of their lives at that lake, and they thought those moments would be unlimited. 

Both of them were big dreamers; Katniss wanted to go to a conservatory and then perform for a living; singing every night until the sun lit up the world again, and Peeta wanted to paint everything that same sun touched and exhibit his work in galleries all around the world. Both of them were absolutely certain the other would succeed, having more faith in their best friends’ talents than in their own.

But they were naive – thinking their wildest dreams would come true without taking the real world in account.

Jasmine Everdeen passed away in a car crash, and after Mr. Everdeen’s soulmark disappeared, he moved back to his old hometown and took his two daughters with him. Half the country was now between Peeta and Katniss and keeping in touch became really difficult. They did their best in remaining best friends, but after two years the distance between them had won and that seemed to be the end of their decade old friendship.

Peeta’s dreams of becoming a well-known artist were derailed by his own mother, who wanted her son to major in a more sensible study than Art History. Something like Business, so he could take over their family bakery, when his parents would retire. And since his parents were paying for his degree, there wasn’t much Peeta could do.

Without Mrs. Everdeen’s doctor’s salary Katniss had to put conservatory on a hold, and she started working multiple jobs to save for her education, but she never ended up in her dream school. She was singing in a bar where some record executive discovered her, and two years later, when they were 21, Katniss Everdeen was a famous singer-songwriter.

Peeta never really talked about her, only to people he was really close with, like Madge and Finnick; talking to strangers about his connection to Katniss felt like he was using her as a claim to fame. But that didn’t mean he didn’t talk about her from time to time, or think about her often.

He had yet to make a connection as deep and real with someone else as he’d had with Katniss. Peeta’d dated in college and had hooked up with several other girls, and had befriended people after saying goodbye to Katniss (like Finnick), but no one could fill the void she had left behind. No one had made him laugh like she had, had consumed him, had brought him as much peace and hope. Had made him feel so _at home_.

It was quite pathetic really – 5 years since they had last saw one another and 3 since they had talked, but he still harboured a massive crush on her.

So, when he turned 22 and six dandelion seeds decorated his ribcage, he felt excited, nervous, and unsure. Excited because it meant he had a soulmate and this specific mark could mean it was _Katniss_ , nervous because it _really_ _could be_ _Katniss_ and because he wouldn’t even know what to say to her if he had her number (and she didn’t even have a soulmark of her own yet. She would turn 22 in May, and it was only February then), and unsure because even if he had spent a lot of time with her between the dandelions, it didn’t necessarily mean it was _her_.

After Katniss had moved away, he’d started dating Delly, and he spend quite some nights with the blonde at that grassy shore. When they broke up, he even hooked up with Leevy Anderson there a couple of times. Always chasing the same feeling of happiness and contentment he had at that same spot when he was with Katniss.

And dandelions weren’t really an uncommon soulmark – millions of people had a variant of the weed decorating their body. There was quite a big chance of someone else being Peeta’s soulmate.

In the weeks leading up to Katniss’s 22nd birthday, her getting a soulmark was a trending topic. People were obsessed with celebrities’ soulmarks and even more with _who_ their soulmate would be. Peeta never really cared for that kind of gossip and information, but this was different. This was _Katniss_.

A week after her birthday was when she made her first public appearance since getting her mark, and those pictures of Katniss Everdeen, the singer-songwriter with an award-winning album, out and about, were all over the internet.

She was doing some groceries, trying her best to be incognito with her sunglasses, braid, and baseball hat, but some fan had recognised her and had taken a few pics of her. There was some discussion if it indeed was Katniss, but Peeta had recognised her immediately.

His eyes scanned the different images on his laptop screen, searching for a mark, and he found something on her left wrist. The photo was very blurry since it was made with a smartphone, but it looked like a flower. Peeta’s disappointment ruined his whole week (it was as if a snowstorm stormed through his heart), before Finnick cheered him up with the fact that he still _had_ a soulmate. What did it matter that it wasn’t Katniss?

Right around when Peeta learned what kind of flower decorated her left wrist, people started speculating who exactly Katniss’s soulmate was. A lot of people were betting on Annie Cresta, an upcoming actress who had starred in one of Katniss’s video clips, because they were seen in public together a lot. According to Tumblr it could also be Thom Coalgrey, a Grammy award winner country singer, who Katniss had sang a duet with on his new album.

Peeta had no clue who her soulmate was, only that the ink on her wrist wasn’t her soulmark – it couldn’t be. The flower was a _jasmine_ _flower_ , and Peeta was sure it was a homage to her late mother; it would be too much of a coincidence if it was her soulmark.

No, the yellowthroat that seemed to fly across her right shoulder blade had to be the mark that had promised Katniss true love.  

When Peeta graduated, he got a job offer from a graphic design firm that took him to Los Angeles. With his Business degree and his minor in Art, he seemed ready to take on whatever his bosses threw at him – and he was. Finnick moved with him to L.A. where he specialized in marine biology at Panem U.

Peeta knew Katniss lived in the same town, but he felt awkward about calling her. It had been four years since they’d spoken last and he didn’t know if him reaching out again would be appreciated. He was afraid she would think he had an ulterior motive now everyone in the country knew her name and her new single was in the Top 5.

So, he said nothing and decided to leave it at that.

But fate decided for him one afternoon when he met up with Finnick at a coffee shop. Finnick was studying for an upcoming exam and Peeta was working on his laptop, when their silence was broken when someone said his name.

‘Peeta?’

He looked up and met the eyes of their interrupter. They were bonnie blue and her face was framed by long blonde hair. The last time he saw the girl she 13 years old, so it took him a second, but he did recognise her. ‘Prim?’ he smiled. ‘What are you doing here?’

Primrose jiggled the books she was holding. ‘Just finished my studying for today’ she smiled. ‘I was about to head out, but I just wanted to say hi’ she smiled. ‘I can’t believe I’m running into you – here of all places! After what – 6 years? What are you doing in L.A.?’

‘I live here now. I—‘

‘Really?!’ Prim asked, enthusiastically, and her eyes seemed to light up due to her excitement. She hadn’t changed one bit. ‘Kat will be so happy to hear so. Can I maybe have your number, so I can pass it on to her? I just know she’d love to catch up with you!’

Peeta chuckled, and ducked his head to hide the blush he was sporting. ‘Sure’

He could see the wheels turning in Finnick’s green eyes, figuring it out, when Prim left. ‘Was she talking about—‘ his voice dropped to a whisper when he said her name, ‘ _Katniss Everdeen_?’   

Peeta’s gaze dropped to his keyboard. ‘What makes you say that?’

Finnick snorted. ‘Please, dude. Your crush on your childhood best friend isn’t exactly subtle and when Prim asked if she could pass your number to someone named _Kat_ , the little swagger you do have, flew out of the window’

Peeta tried to scowl at his friend, but it had no effect. Finnick just started laughing and shook his head. ‘Well, at least she’s going to text you. Probably’

‘Maybe’

‘If you two become best buds again, do you think you could introduce me to Annie Cresta? She’s really cute’ Finnick grinned.

‘I’m going to do that girl a favour and do no such thing’

Finnick let out a huff and muttered something quite similar to ‘And he calls himself a friend..’

But, Peeta barely heard it – his thoughts were somewhere else.

 

* * *

 

 

He’d just opened a beer and started watching “Brooklyn Nine-Nine” when his cell alerted him of an incoming text. It was a few days after he ran into Prim, but seeing the texts still felt like a huge surprise.

Maybe, unconsciously, he hadn’t really believed Katniss would text him.

 

 **UNKNOWN NUMBER 9:37pm:** _Hi Peeta, Prim told me she ran into you last Wednesday. I thought it could be fun to catch up? If you want to?_

_This is Katniss btw, if that wasn’t clear_

 

 **YOU 9:38pm:** _Thanks for clarifying. I’ve given numerous Prims my number this week, so it’s good to know who’s texting me ;)_

_Yes, that sounds great (:_

 

 **Katniss 9:41pm:** _Better safe than sorry ;)_

_Would you like to come over? It’s kind of hard for me to go out right now and live life like a normal person_

_To sweeten the deal, I have the cutest dog on the planet and homemade cupcakes :D_

 

 **YOU 9:41pm:** _Who made those cupcakes?_

 

 **Katniss 9:42pm:** _Omg I gave you burned baked goods like once, ten years ago!_

_Get over it. I’m quite the adequate baker now_

**YOU 9:42pm:** _They were burned on the outside and still raw on the inside. That’s hard to forget_

_I don’t even know how you did that_

_And it wasn’t once, it was always.._

_Prim made those cupcakes, didn’t she?_

 

 **Katniss 9:43pm:** _Yes……_

 

 **YOU 9:43pm:** _Than, yes – that sounds great (:_

_How’s Sunday for you?_

 

 **Katniss 9:44pm:** _Sunday sounds perfect (:_

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

They’d been texting each other every day until Sunday, and it had been easy, natural – they’d fallen back in their old friendship like they’d never said goodbye. When Peeta arrived at her home, he was less nervous than he would’ve been if they hadn’t texted as much, but his heart was still beating a nervous rhythm when he rang Katniss’s doorbell.

But, excitement was coursing through his veins as well.

Katniss lived in a gated community nearby the ocean in a three bedroom home, that had a large backyard and was reached by the calming sounds of the ocean.

He was greeted first by Rosanna, Katniss’s dog (named after Toto’s hit, she’d told him). Rosanna was some kind of vague mutt, that looked like an awkward German Shepard  – Peeta could see why Katniss adopted her; Rosanna was absolutely adorable.

Peeta crouched down to pet the dog, and he was rewarded with a lick in return. Rosanna was wearing a collar that was a dark green colour that looked way too familiar. ‘Hey, Rosanna, it’s so nice to meet you’ he cooed.

The dog barked in response, but their little conversation got interrupted by her owner.

‘Peeta, hi’

He looked up and his eyes met Katniss. She was wearing flip flops, shorts, a Hogwarts shirt, and the most amazing smile Peeta had ever seen. She looked beautiful.

‘Hey’ his voice sounded hoarse, so he coughed a little to regain its normal tone.

They gave each other a hug, and Peeta had trouble letting her go – she still smelled like wildflowers and felt like home.

Katniss took him to her backyard, where tea and the promised cupcakes were waiting for him. ‘Still no sugar?’ she asked, when she handed him a mug. She’d remembered.

‘Still only tea’ he confirmed, smiling. ‘You were right’ Peeta said when they sat down, and Rosanna plumped down on Katniss her feet. ‘You have the cutest dog on the planet’

Katniss chuckled and bend down to scratch Rosanna’s ears. ‘I got her from a shelter three years back. She was already 5 then, so there was a big chance she was going to be put down sooner than later. I couldn’t let that happen’

‘I really think that’s amazing. I definitely want to have a dog someday’ he gulped down some of his tea. ‘Do you take Roxanne with you, when you’re on the road?’

‘No, than my dad takes care of her’ Katniss answered. ‘Last summer I was touring with “The Revolution”, and I didn’t want to drag her along to those arenas and tour buses, just because I’d miss her otherwise. Seemed selfish – especially because she loves running around on the beach and playing in my backyard so much’

‘I bet she missed you, too’ Peeta could relate.

Katniss chuckled. ‘I bet she barely noticed my absence. My dad and Prim spoil her way too much’

‘Don’t sell yourself short. You’re hard to forget’ his eyes bored into hers, making it impossible for either one of them to look away. The double meaning behind his words wasn’t lost on both of them, and Peeta didn’t know where he got the courage to say them, only that she made him feel _sure_.   

Katniss gave him a shy smile. ‘Well, I didn’t forget her either’ he knew exactly what she meant. ‘More tea?’

They continued talking about their lives and eventually brought up old friends. Katniss was disappointed to hear he didn’t become the artist he always wanted to be. Peeta saw something in her silver eyes flash when he told her his mother had pushed him to study Business instead.

‘Yeah, I know you never were a big fan of hers’ Peeta smiled when he saw that her feelings towards Mrs. Mellark still hadn’t changed after all those years.

‘Well, I never was going to make my money with acting’ she joked, but her cheeks were tinted out of embarrassment. Not that she had anything to be embarrassed about, as far as Peeta was concerned. Katniss offered him another one of Prim’s cupcakes, which he gratefully accepted and devoured, before they started playing catch with Rosanna.

They ended the evening with eating some Thai food and watching the sun go down. Katniss made him laugh so hard that beer came out of his nose, making her laugh even louder, and Peeta couldn’t imagine anything more perfect than that.

 

* * *

 

 

They saw each other almost every week after that Sunday and not a day went by without some texts going back and forth between them.

 

 **Katniss 10:17am _:_** _I’m so bored rn_

_Waiting for some songwriter to get over his hangover so we can write some songs_

_What r u up to?_

**YOU 10:19am:** _Working on a project_

_I saw something fun on Tumblr the other day_

_The last person you texted, the protagonist of the last show you watched, and your favourite book character are now your companions in the zombie apocalypse. Who do you have?_

 

 **Katniss 10:21am:** _You, Jess Day and Hermione Granger._

_Are we doomed?_

 

 **YOU 10:21am:** _Probably, although you and HG are badass._

_But every1 is doomed in the zombie apocalypse, so.._

 

 **Katniss 10:22am:** _True and true._

_Who do you have?_

 

 **YOU 10:24am:** _You, Jake Peralta and Sherlock Holmes_

_Let’s go with yours. I don’t think Jake and Sherlock would be a good combo_

 

 **Katniss 10:24am:** _Good call_

_At least we are together in both scenarios (:_

_The writer is here. At last_

_We still on for next Saturday?_

 

 **YOU 10:25am:** _Yes, don’t worry_

_I won’t forget that I promised to bring you some of my homemade cheesebuns on Saturday_

 

 **Katniss 10:25am:** _You’re the best! (:_

 

* * *

 

 

‘Still as addictive as I remember’ Katniss said, before she licked a cheesebun crumb of her upper lip. Peeta tried not to stare, so he dropped his gaze and it fell on the jasmine tattoo on her wrist.

‘How those that work? Hiding your soulmark, I mean’ Peeta asked. ‘You have one, right?’

Katniss nodded. ‘A good friend of mine, Johanna, is actually a tattoo artist. So, after my 22nd birthday, I got some ink done to alter my soulmark— to keep it a secret’ she took a bite of her cheesebun before continuing. ‘Don’t get me wrong, I’m grateful I got a mark, but there’s a bounty on clear pictures of my soulmark and it’s something deeply personal I want to keep to myself. I also don’t want people tattooing my mark on their body and lying to me when they say I’m their soulmate..’

‘I get that’ Peeta said, and she gave him a sweet smile in thanks. ‘Can I ask— is that a jasmine flower? For your Mom?’

Katniss’s gaze dropped to the tattoo on her wrist and she softly caressed it with her thumb. ‘Yes. I wanted to do that for a while now and the day after my 22nd birthday seemed like the perfect moment. I also got a primrose on my ankle, and a music bar under my collarbone. It holds the notes from the song I wrote with my dad for my first album. The yellowthroat on my shoulder is just because’

‘Mockingbird, right?’ he asked, referring to the song.

‘Yeah, it’s about my Mom’ she answered. ‘What about you? Mark? Ink?’

‘I have a mark, but no ink. Didn’t have to change it like you did’ he wet his lip. ‘How are you going to figure out who your soulmate is? Do you date?’

‘Sometimes. Annie and I went out a couple of times, but we figured we were better off as friends – especially since we don’t share a mark, so..’ Rosanna joined them then and gave Katniss a tennis ball. The dog dropped it into her owner’s hand and Katniss hurled it across her backyard so Rosanna could go fetch it. 

‘And for finding my soulmate,’ she continued, ‘I just hope fate is on my side’ she winked. ‘No, but seriously, just like anyone else— by having some luck and finding my mark on someone else’s body. It shouldn’t be that hard, I live in a warm place and near a beach’

Peeta chuckled. ‘What’s that got to do with anything?’ Rosanna came to him next, and Peeta hurled the ball in the opposite direction. Rosanna ran like he’d never seen her run.

Katniss smiled. ‘My soulmate and I have our soulmark on our ribcage, so if he or she walks around sparsely clothed, I can find them. And that will probably be on or near the beach’

‘Good theory’ he granted. ‘Could work for me as well—mine is on my ribcage too’

Katniss worried her lip. ‘Can I see it?’

‘Sure’ Peeta lifted up the side of his shirt to reveal his six dandelion seeds.

The moment her silver eyes took in his soulmark, the world seemed to shift. They were at a breaking point – there was now a before and an after. Katniss let out an audible sigh, and her body seemed to let go of a lot of tension. She started smiling and her cheeks became a nice pink colour. ‘I hoped it was you’ she admitted.

‘Yeah?’ Peeta began to smile himself, because he understood what she meant. He always did.

Katniss showed him her own, and there it was – the six dandelion seeds that were the exact same size and seemed to be carried across her body by the same gust of wind as his’ was. The only differences were the ink that Johanna had added and the soft orange hue her soulmark seemed to bathe in (his mark was accentuated by a dark green colour, a tint very similar to Rosanna’s collar). Johanna had inked four more seeds to her trail and a dandelion on her side, making it seem like the seeds came from that specific weed.

Peeta’s thumb gently travelled across her mark. ‘My favourite colour’ he commented, a little absent, but with a smile so broad it hurt his cheeks. He couldn’t believe it was true – Katniss was actually his soulmate. He’d never been this happy in his life.

‘And you carry mine’

‘I hoped it was you, too’ he said. ‘I just wasn’t sure’

‘Why not?’

Peeta started to blush furiously. ‘After I left, I may or may not have hooked up with some girls at the lake’

Katniss laughed. ‘Don’t tell me you made those dandelion crowns for those other girls as well’

‘Not even once’ he promised, thinking back to the crowns he’d made Katniss when they were kids.

‘Good’ Katniss said, before leaning in and taking his lips in hers.

He could get used to this, but he hoped he never would.

 

* * *

 

 

Katniss posted a picture of the two of them on her social media account a few weeks later, making the internet go into a frenzy.

‘Now the whole world knows I found my soulmate’ she kissed his cheek and snuggled closer to him on his couch. ‘Soulmark-mystery resolved. Makes it less exciting, don’t you think?’

Peeta smiled knowingly. ‘Is that the only reason you posted that pic?’

‘No, I definitely also did it so now everyone knows you’re mine’ she said with a playful smile.

‘Yeah, I thought so too’ he chuckled, and he kissed his soulmate’s brow. ‘Gloat away, babe. Gloat away’

 

**Author's Note:**

> I always love to hear your thoughts and feels, so please don't be shy! :) Always makes me really happy :D xx


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